


Familiar

by ddagent



Category: The Worst Witch (TV 2017)
Genre: Episode Remix, F/F, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 20:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14480910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddagent/pseuds/ddagent
Summary: “Miss Cackle, I went to the forest. Another bird helped me get back. She was a human too; a witch, Pippa Pentangle!” A Hicsqueak remix of 1.04 'Pond Life'.





	Familiar

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a strange and busy month but I've finally been able to get around to editing. I hope you enjoy!

“Miss Cackle, I went to the forest. Another bird helped me get back. She was a human too; a witch, Pippa Pentangle!”

Hecate had not expected to ever hear that name again, least of all out of the mouth of Mildred Hubble. Yet, after three decades of speculation over Pippa’s disappearance, the pieces were finally falling into place. Hecate turned to the caged menagerie on the shelves behind them; a beautiful bird with rose plumage beating her wings against the glass. As Mildred begged Ada to listen to her, Miss Gullet plucked the bird from its holdings and thrust her in the direction of the nearby bubbling cauldron.

_Pippa!_

With a wave of her hand, the cauldron vanished into the ether. Turning to the assembled crowd, Hecate did something she never thought possible: agree with Mildred Hubble. “Mildred is telling the truth. Pippa Pentangle was indeed a witch, a fine one. She was also my… _friend_.” Staring into the beady eyes of the bird clutched in Gullet’s knotted grasp, Hecate could almost recognise the woman she’d loved so many moons ago. “I’d know Pippa anywhere.”

“Then have her!”

Gullet tossed Pippa into Hecate’s outstretched hands before making her escape. Dimity was quick to act; tackling Gullet in the corridor. Hecate cradled the shaken bird nestling in her palm as her tormentor was marched back inside; Gullet’s arms pinned behind her back. Hecate was ready to tear the woman limb from limb; transform her into a bird and let the familiars feast on her. But such action was not appropriate in front of three twelve year olds. Still holding Pippa, Hecate let Ada lead the interrogation.

“I assume you have an explanation as to how Penelope Pentangle’s daughter found herself a _bird,_ Miss Gullet?”

“It’s not my _fault_! I needed the job. Her mother ran a school, why did she need _this_ one?”

 _Because she wanted us to work together._ After they had completed their training, Pippa had proposed working side by side rather than in academies miles apart. Pentangle’s was the obvious choice but both had wanted to stretch their wings. Hecate had never left Cackle’s: part out of loyalty to Ada and her school; part out of hope that Pippa would one day return. Truly, she had never left.

“ _Change her back._ ”

Gullet’s eyes widened; her audaciousness quickly replaced by fear _._ Fear of punishment. Fear of Hecate herself. She turned to the bird now perched on Hecate’s desk. “Forest green and dead man’s ditch, turn this bird back into a _witch_!”

The classroom burst into plumes of pink smoke. _How fitting._ When the fog cleared, a lone figure sat upon the desk. Blonde hair flattened by the wind. Pink robes several seasons out of date. Lines where there wasn’t before but beauty everlasting. _Pippa._ She turned first to Mildred, offering her fellow bird a familiar smile. Then, as if sensing her presence, Pippa’s eyes sought hers. Immediately she leapt from the desk, wrapping both arms around Hecate’s shoulders. Stumbling back, Hecate had just enough presence of mind to hold her too lest they both tumble to the cold stone floor. Pippa’s lips were warm against her cheek; her fingers firm against the nape of her neck. Hecate could smell the wind on her clothes; see a twig adorning Pippa’s blonde strands. But she was on solid ground now. She was _home._

“I’ve missed you, Hiccup.”

Enid earned a month of detention for tittering. Yet Hecate would not deny herself the opportunity to reciprocate for the first time in thirty years. “I’ve missed _you_ , too, Pipsqueak.”

“Miss _Hardbroom_ was the girl in the photograph?”

“Yes. _My Hecate._ ” Fingertips brushed Hecate’s cheek; dark eyes roaming her face as if memorising every curve, every line. “I couldn’t remember your name. But I could remember your face. Now, _now_ I remember _everything_. All the years we’ve spent together. All the ones apart. Thanks to _her._ ”

They stared, eyes black and fists clenched, at Miss Gullet. But Pippa would never again have to worry about her tormentor. Ada dismissed her on the spot. She would _not_ be missed. Miss Gullet had never endeared herself to the rest of the faculty; was an entirely _useless_ teacher. Even Maud Spellbody chortled at her dismissal. With a position suddenly vacant, it seemed only fitting that Pippa take the place that was rightfully hers. If, of course, that was what she wanted. Pentangle’s was her birth right and the doors had remained closed for so _many_ years. But Hecate needn’t have worried. As Pippa tangled her hand in hers, Hecate knew she would remain. Nothing would part them again.

“Well, that was _certainly_ an eventful afternoon,” Ada said, looking between Hecate and Pippa’s clasped hands and the trio of first years trying to look anywhere else. “Can someone recall why we were here in the first place?”

“ _I can._ ”

Pippa’s reappearance had only served as a _temporary_ distraction from Mildred’s test in basic magical principles. Across the classroom, Miss Hubble’s face fell. There was no possibility of Mildred passing this test. Time had offered her a slim chance, but her time had been spent with two wings and a beak. Of course, the test had only been issued because Mildred had turned Ethel Hallow into a chicken. If Ethel hadn’t then turned Mildred into a bird as revenge, the woman tucked into Hecate’s side would still be scrambling for worms in the dirt.

Reaching a decision, Hecate swallowed; chin thrusting outwards as she tried to save face. Not an easy feat when Pippa kept staring at her with a smile so bright it outshone the sun. “The terms of the exam have not been met. Due to… _outside_ forces you have been unable to _adequately_ prepare yourself. You are excused. _This time._ ”

“Still as strict as ever, Hecate.” Pippa beamed, reaching up with one finger to _tap_ the tip of Hecate’s nose. “Don’t worry, girls, she’s a pussy cat really.”

Eyes wide, skin flushed, Hecate’s mouth moved but no sound came out. Thankfully Ada took pity on her. With one arm around Mildred and the other around Enid, she steered the three girls and an intrigued Dimity Drill out of the potions lab. “Come along; let’s give Miss Hardbroom and Miss Pentangle some privacy. We can have a little chat about keeping things _in house._ ”

The lab quickly emptied. Hecate had not imagined, entering this room not ten minutes prior, that she would be reunited with the love of her life. But here she was. _Pippa Pentangle._ Still as pink, still as pretty. There was lots they needed to discuss; lots they needed to catch up on. But for now Pippa was human and Hecate had a free period. She put a seal on the door, waved a dampening spell over the room, and Hecate took Pippa in her arms.

For the first time in thirty years, they shared a kiss.


End file.
